Soot blowers have long been used to remove deposits of slag and other foreign material that collect on the walls of a gasifier, furnace or other type reactor. Typically, a soot blower is mounted at the side of the gasifier and then moved laterally through an opening in a wall thereof to eject a blast of cleaning fluid over the surface of the walls or other elements to be cleaned. Excessive pressure within the gasifier is prevented from flowing into the soot blower by a protective seal or gland that separates relatively movable parts.
Examples of this type apparatus are shown by the following art: U.S. Pat. No. 3,140,503; U.S. Pat. No. 1,183,417; and U.S. Pat. No. 1,709,167.
If the interior pressure of the gasifier should exceed that of the soot blowing mechanism, the high pressure gas from the gasifier carrying foreign material therein will slowly enter the soot blowing mechanism to cause abrasion of the parts, and heat of the gasifier will cause rapid degeneration of the protective seal.